Top seeds Adam and Alfred aiming to win title

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SET TO ROAR: Adam (right) and Alfred are gunning for the Boys U-18 doubles crown at the 100Plus National Junior Circuit Sabah-Sarawak Zone badminton tournament in Sabah from Apr 10-12.

KUCHING: Sarawak’s twins and doubles pair Adam and Alfred Lau are eyeing a spot in the Grand Finals of the 100Plus National Junior Circuit badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur from June 12-16.

They are now in Tuaran, Sabah to compete in the Sabah-Sarawak Zone of the national circuit that starts from Wednesday until Saturday.

Both 17 years old with Adam 20 minutes older than Alfred, the twins will play in the Boys U-18 doubles in which they are the top seeds.

They have been given a bye in the first round. In the quarterfinals, they will take on the Sabah pair of Fino Bieen Saibin and Seah Shu Yang, who are the fifth seeds.

A win will put them in the semi-finals where they will meet either teammates Clement Chieng Jia Yew-Gerald Ong Zhi Li, or Sabah’s Datu Mohd Saffuan Nizam Sardik-Mohd Fard Arimi Siting, or Mohd Danniel Fakhiny Tresno-Mohd Sharizan Tahir.

“We are ready for the challenge and we are very confident of winning the doubles title,” Alfred said when met recently.

The brothers won the Boys U-16 doubles title in 2011 and were not selected to play for Sarawak last year.

Admitting that they do feel some pressure as top seeds, the brothers vowed to do their very best to win the title for Sarawak.

“We have good understanding between us and I have partnered Alfred for quite some time. We have been preparing for this tournament for four months,” said Adam who completed his form five at SMK St Joseph last year and obtained 3As, 5Bs and 1C for his SPM.

The younger twin Alfred also did well by getting 3As, 3Bs and 3Cs.

The duo are also hopeful of getting selected to represent Sarawak in Sukma 2016.

They will put further studies on hold this year to concentrate on competing in the national junior circuit and other national tournaments.

Both took up badminton while they were in primary four at the encouragement of their father Kenny Lau.

They came under the Sarawak Badminton Association’s (SBA) wings in 2007.

In the National Junior Circuit Sarawak Selection at the SBA Badminton Hall this year, the twins captured the Boys U-18 doubles title and Alfred beat Adam to lift the Boys U-18 singles title.

Meanwhile, Sarawak are represented by 61 players at the zonal meet in Sabah.

Sarawak players are seeded top in seven categories when compared to nine top seeds last year.

Categories competed at Dewan Sri Sulaiman, Tuaran are Boys/Girls U-12 singles and doubles, Boys/Girls U-14 singles and doubles, Boys/Girls U-16 singles and doubles, and Boys/Girls U-18 singles and doubles.

Champions and runner-ups for Boys/Girls U-14, 16, 18 qualify for the Grand Finals while the champion, runner-up and semi-finalists of the Boys/girls U-12 will book their tickets to Kuala Lumpur.

The top seeds are Nik Azizi (Boys U-12 singles), Barry Chong-Nik Azizi (Boys U-12 doubles), Nalthan Lissem (Boys U-14 singles), Owen Ting-Stanley Chiong (Boys U-14 doubles), Alfred Lau-Adam Lau (Boys U-18 doubles), Valerie Liong (Girls U-14 singles) and Kourtney Kho-Viviene Kua (Girls U-16 doubles).